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THE CALL
Responding to God's Appeal from Heaven
"Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."
2 Timothy 1:9
There is an appeal that God offers to all men. It has to do with a calling or a summons that reaches out to all who will come and drink of the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17). The Bible tells us "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). He doesn't pick and choose randomly as if to say, "
You can be saved, but you, I choose not to save." The appeal is universal, and when men respond to the call, then God draws them out of darkness and places them into his marvelous light. Romans chapter ten says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). This calling has to do with our response to the call of God! We call on him because deep down within our hearts we hear him calling to us! That's why Jesus said,
"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him..." (John 6:44). This draw is all part of the appeal of heaven. How we respond to what we hear within determines whether or not this drawing will impact our life enough that we will come into his saving grace. This brings us to another very important verse: "If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear!" (Mark 4:23). God is calling, but only those who are willing to listen are going to hear!
Our job as believers is to transact the business of heaven!
It is important to understand that there is a difference between the call of election and the call to our vocation. Notice again in our text,"He hath saved us, and called us..." Saved is the Greek word SOZO. This has to do with the call of election. It is God's appeal to save us and deliver us from evil. That is what the word "Church" in the Greek means. It is the word EKKLESIA, or the "called out ones." The first part of our calling is to be healed, saved, delivered, made whole, and to become sound in spirit, soul, and body. It is all about fixing us, restoring us, and making us into a new creation. God wants to bring us into complete wholeness. He draws us out of darkness so that we can now exit the world of sin, sickness, disease, poverty and lack. Without his calling we have no way of knowing how to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:4). The whole idea of our being called out implies closing the connection, leaving behind a life impoverished by sin and exiting it "once and for all." The moment we respond to the call to come out, we are to become a separated people forever!
The call to our vocation is difference from just being saved. God takes us out of the world to fulfill his purpose! That is what Paul is addressing when he describes this aspect of our calling as a holy calling, a high calling; a heavenly calling! (2 Tim 1:9, Phil. 3:14, Heb. 3:1). There is an appeal to carry out God's will on the earth just as it is in heaven. I find it very interesting that it was in Antioch that the Disciples of Christ were first called "Christians" (Acts 11:26). You have to understand this was not an inside word among believers. It came about from those without, from those who looked upon them and decided to call them Christians. Here is what is so fascinating: The word "called" is the Greek word CREMATIZO. It literally means: those who transact business; those who become the mouthpiece for divine revelation; or those who respond to a divine command to teach from heaven. The idea of being "called" a Christian came about from onlookers who were identifying the activities of how believers lived their life. By the second century this became a name of honor, a badge of identity associated with being like Christ! The call of election makes us who we are, but it is the call to our heavenly vocation that identifies what we are to be as a Christian (Ephesians 4:1). It is a very sacred part of the responsibility we have in fulfilling the purpose of God. In other words, our job as believers is to transact the business of heaven. We are to become the mouthpiece for divine revelation (1 Peter 4:11). We are to respond to a divine command to teach from heaven ((Hebrews 5:12). God never called us out of darkness to sit and do nothing until we cross over to the other side. Our duty now is to live in the light, to walk in the light, and to be the light to a lost and dying world around us! PRAYER Father, I thank you for calling me into the kingdom. I willingly respond to your appeal to become a child of God and to enter into the responsibility placed upon me as a Christian. I will seek your will. I will set my affection on heavenly things so that I can become your mouthpiece to teach others the truths of your Word. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. CONFESSION I was created for purpose, and I will seek to find my purpose in Christ. I am the called of God! I will walk in my salvation. I choose to come out and be separate, and I will speak as an oracle of God and minister with the ability that God has given me! DEFINING MOMENTS... It is very important to know you are called. You may not be called to pastor a church or become a missionary to the world, but you are called to be a Christian. Not just someone who calls themselves that by name, but who lives up to the responsibility of that calling! Whatever you do in life identifies your occupation. If you are a nurse your job is to care for your patients. If you are a teacher you teach your students. You do what you are called to do. That is what defines you! Your claim to be a Christian is also defined by what you do! So, don't think of it as just a title...realize it is the application of all that you do that really determines who you are!
In His Grace, Pastor David Faith Harvest Church | 
